Quiet
by idealskeptic
Summary: There's a big scene in Breaking Dawn: Part 2 that's just a vision. But what if it wasn't? What if it actually happened? What would Esme hear, see, think, and do? ... obvious movie spoilers, so you've been warned ... one-shot


**Disclaimer: **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**A/N: **DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN _BREAKING DAWN: PART 2!_

You've been warned. Anyway, I had a heart attack (I swear it!) during that movie. It was pretty much perfect in _every _way but I couldn't help but think about the "what if…"

Specifically, what if the vision wasn't a vision? What if it was real?

This little bit of words is how I'm dealing with my heart attack…

* * *

**Quiet**

I don't know what happened, but it's suddenly quiet.

Utterly silent.

Unnervingly silent.

It shouldn't be so quiet after all that's happened.

Maybe there is noise. Maybe I just don't hear it. Maybe I'm making noise.

I don't hear _anything_.

For some reason, though, I'm aware again.

Even though it seems like a lifetime has passed in minutes, like my life should be over, my mind works again.

I realize I'm on the edge of the crevice in the earth and I start to crawl away from it on my hands and knees. But some thought stops me and I turn back. I clap my hand over my mouth when I see the gray fur on her now lifeless body. I don't know if I cry out. I want to cry out. She died _instead_ of me.

Someone is next to me, saying something. He's telling me that he'll bring her up before he closes the crevice.

I think I nod. I _hope_ I do.

I crawl away again.

I have to find my family.

Still on my hands and knees in the snow, I look around me.

Edward and Bella are already gone; I can smell their scents leaving the clearing. They must be going to Renesmee and Jacob.

Rosalie and Emmett are still here, clinging to each other.

That leaves only _Alice_.

I find her easily. She's alone in the snow, kneeling next to the unburned body of the man she _lives_ for.

I push myself to my feet, staggering toward her without seeing anything or anyone. My legs give out just as I reach her.

She wraps her arms around me as I wrap mine around her.

I don't know how long we sit there, doing nothing more than holding each other.

After a little while, she blinks once and exhales shakily. She asks if he's in pain. I don't know the answer. I wonder if I should find someone to ask, but I can't think of whom. She shakes her head and decides that she doesn't want to know, she just wants to finish things for him. But she doesn't move.

I turn and find Benjamin emerging from deep inside the earth with Leah's body in his arms. He sees me and hands her to Sam before walking slowly toward us.

Alice says please and tiny flames dance on his fingertips.

He waits until I pull her back just a little, and then the flames are spreading over Jasper's jacket.

Alice buries her face in my chest and I hold her tight.

I don't take my eyes off the flames, not until there's nothing left but ash.

Edward's at my side then, with two stone jars. I don't know where he got them.

I take them both, and give one to Alice.

She gathers as much as she can into the jar and stands up.

Leaning on each other, we walking across the snow to the spot where the man I live for was burned. The others follow behind us, and the rest of our friends part for us, but we don't notice them.

I do the same as she did.

And then there's nothing else to do.

I _need_ something else to do.

But there's _nothing_.

It's strange. I don't think of following Carlisle. But I don't know what to do. And I don't have anything to say. So I stand there, and Alice stands with me, huddled against me.

It's then that I see Embry return to the clearing. I didn't know he left, but he's coming back in his human form. He's carrying Sue Clearwater.

She's come for her children.

_Children_ died today.

She screams when she sees them lying in the snow next to each other. She falls to her knees beside them and sobs into the fur of their lifeless bodies.

No words will make her pain any less, not from anyone. I _know_ that.

All I can do is make sure that her children didn't die in vain.

But how to do that when I hardly know how to put one foot in front of the other?

I stand with Alice instead. She doesn't seem to know what to do either. I'll stay with her. As long as she needs me, and I need her just as much, we'll figure out how to put one foot in front of the other.

It will _never_ be the same. It will _never_ be easy. It will never be right.

It will always be different. It will always be hard. It will always be _wrong_.

But it is.

I'm aware again.

But I don't hear anything.

There is noise. I will make noise. Maybe I'll hear the noise.

I'll never get used to the quiet that's come after what happened.

Unnerving silence.

Utter silence.

I don't know what's happened, but it's suddenly quiet.

**The End**

* * *

_So, I hope you liked it. I need to see the movie again. In the meantime, I'd be happy to know what you thought of this, or even just the movie._

_Thanks for reading!_


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